BCHA Board of Directors + Committee Members

2021: Celebrating 50 years of service to the Boulder Equestrian Community!

The Boulder County Horsemen’s Association was established as a Colorado non-profit corporation in 1971. The organization obtained its 501(c)3 status in 1988. In 2001, it changed its name to Boulder County Horse Association (BCHA). The Board of Directors is elected by its membership.

BCHA is a 100 percent volunteer organization, and the horse community in Boulder County needs you. Volunteer as many or as little hours as you like.  Provide leadership, organize events, or represent BCHA at city and open space meetings—a wee bit of help goes a long way!

Reach out today!

Please e-mail us and let us know what you are interested in. Want to test the water? E-mail us for a link to join our board meetings. Meetings are held via Zoom the second Tuesday of each month, January through November from 7 to 8:30 PM. 

Clare Tone, President

Clare took her first horseback riding lesson when she was six years old and essentially never dismounted (on purpose at least). Horses have been her companions for exploring bridle paths near Chicago, agricultural fields and hardwood forests in Vermont, and Wilderness areas in Wyoming. As a registered dietitian, nutritionist, Clare knows healthy land creates the foundation for a healthy world, vibrant community and resilient herd. She is passionate about applying principles of sustainable and regenerative agriculture to managing Broken Arrow Ranch LLC, a historic horse ranch west of Gold Hill. Her love of horses, and wild open places, inspires her to be a steward and conduit for sharing those things with others.

Contact Clare

Vice President, Open

Carmen Porter, Treasurer NOTE: Treasurer position OPEN in 2023

Carmen was born and raised on a farm and ranch near Lindon, Colorado. She and her siblings rode their ranch horses to work cattle, and the family belonged to the local Beaver Creek Saddle Club. She is an alumni of Colorado School of Mines and a retired Environmental Engineer. Carmen is currently involved in the Boulder County 4-H horse bowl team, as a leader and coach. She been a member of BCHA since 2004, and in 2017 took over the management of the annual BCHA Fun Show. She joined the BCHA Board of Directors in 2017., and served as President in 2018. 

Brittany Steffensen, Community Offerings

Hailing from the limbs of the maple trees of Minnesota, Brittany has been an advocate for both people and animals for as long as she can remember which led her to start her company Open Air Equine where she teaches horse lovers at every level how to implement equine first aid protocols at home, on the trail, or in the backcountry. A social butterfly by trade, but a quiet observer with adventure in her soul like the wild mustangs of the West, Brittany’s passion for horses started at the tender age of three when she kissed the muzzle of her grandpa’s favorite Percheron mare. Growing up horseback riding on her Arabian quarter horse Ringo and spending as much time in the outdoors, you may run into her trail riding, mountain biking, or climbing a rock wall in Colorado’s front range. She is eager to get to know more of you in the equine community and make a positive impact by fostering the BCHA mission—promoting and unifying the equestrian community through education, recreation, and legislation.   

Contact Brittany

Melissa Page, Chief Herd Officer 

Loving horses has been a consistent theme in Melissa’s life. As a kid in Connecticut, she spent weekends riding cross-country trails in the woods or hanging out in neighbor barns. After moving back to Boulder from Manhattan several years ago, she discovered through volunteering with rescue horses from every situation imaginable, a new way to connect and learn from these incredible partners through natural horsemanship. Melissa and her pony Riddle (click here to read more about that), a former rodeo princess, adopted one another a year ago and can be found with their amazing trainer, Tiffany, learning how to look at life in the saddle as a lot of fun with unlimited possibilities.

Randy Winter, Trail Advisor, Committee Member

Randy Winter is a past President (1989) and Vice President of BCHA. Born in New York City he came to Colorado in 1969 to attend the University of Colorado. He graduated and spent the next 30 years teaching in the Boulder Valley School District at Crest View Elementary and Casey Middle Schools. Horses became a part of his life when he met his wife Cheryl, and it was “Love me, love my horses.” During some summers he learned saddlemaking under the tutelage of Bob and May Frost, of Centerride Saddles.

Together Cheryl and Randy participated in the sport of Endurance Riding. Cheryl amassing over 7,000 competitive miles with Randy filling the shoes of  crew, spare horse rider and survivor! They were inducted into the Mountain Region Endurance Riders Hall of Fame in 2011 along with their small horse business Max Tack. Currently they have three horses on their property on Saint Vrain Road.

Randy’s goal as BCHA Trail Advisor is, “to encourage more equestrians to venture out on the many beautiful trails of Boulder.” To that end he has started a Facebook group “Boulder Equestrians on Trail.” If you are a trail rider and Facebook user you are welcome to join and participate.

Contact Randy

BCHA Past Presidents

We would like to thank all volunteers, and past Board members (listed below),who have volunteered to serve and promote our mission: to protect and unify the equestrian community of Boulder County through education, recreation and legislation.

1971 Judith Lilly, 1972 David Varra, 1973 Judith Lilly, 1974 Pip Wales, 1975 Cathy Bickell, 1977 Sue Carter, 1979 Tom Hoselton, 1980 Nancy Gonacha, 1981 Shirley Hyden, 1982 Cathy Bickell, 1983 Judd Adams, 1984 Jill Talbot, 1986 Bruce Rice, 1987  Ben Lobue, 1989 Randy Winter, 1991 Creighton Stewart, 1995 Carol Hellwig, 1997 Tracy Speich, 1999-2002 Suzanne Webel. 2003 Hildy Armour, 2005 Suzanne Webel, 2007 Jacquelene Lee,  2008 Sandi Rosewell, 2009-partial  Linda Hall-Taylor, 2010-2012 Dirk Arnold, 2012-2015 Suzanne Webel, 2015 Laura Edwards, 2016 Sara Martinelli, 2018 Carmen Porter, 2019 Tamar V.S. McKee